Removable upholstery for chairs



7 l. s. TAFFAE 2,809,692

REMOVABLE UPHOLS'IERY FOR CHAIRS Filed Jan. 6', 1955 1 45 5 5 INVENTOR.

IS RA E L SARGE TA FFHE ATTORNEY.

United States atet REMOVABLE UPHOLSTERY FOR CHAIRS Israel Sarge Taifae,Cedarhurst, N. Y.

Application January 6, 1955, Serial No. 480,151

Claims. (Cl. 155-182) This invention relates to chairs. Moreparticularly, the invention deals with removable upholstery having meansfor quickly andeasily coupling and uncoupling the upholstery with thechair frame to facilitate cleaning or reconditioning thereof. Still moreparticularly, the invention deals with an upholstery system, wherein theupholstery is in the form of an elongated envelope or casing, in whichcushioning or padding means is removably disposed to facilitate cleaningor laundering of the envelope or casing.

Further, my invention deals with a removable upholstery having means foradjustably and yieldably supporting the cushion to maintain the same inproper position on the chair frame.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from thefollowing description, when taken together with the accompanyingdrawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosedand, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable referencecharacters in each of the views and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a chair showing one of my removableupholsteries mounted in connection therewith.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper portion of the chairframe, indicating the manner of attaching one end of the upholstery tothe frame.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of a part of the seat, indicating theadjustable and yieldable coupling of the other end portion of theupholstery.

Fig. 3a is a detailed perspective view of one corner of a modified formof upholstery.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal broken section of the pholstery in extendedposition; and

Fig. 5 is a view, similar to Fig. 4, showing a part of the constructionand showing a modification.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, I have shown a chair, comprising a seat andbackrest frame comprising side rails defined by side seat rails 11, sidebackrest rails 12 joined to the seat rails by a curved intermediateportion 13. The side rails 11 are joined at the front edge of the seatin a crossrail 14, these rails being further joined by a seat platformwhich, in the construction shown, is in the form of a sheet metal plate15, having a multiplicity of transversely and longitudinally spacedapertures 16, as clearly noted, in part, in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

The curved portions 13 of the sides of the frame are joined by acrossrod 17; whereas, the top portions of the backrest sides 12 arejoined by an integral upper rail 18 and a lower adjacent rail 19. Atthis time, it will be understood that the plate and rails or rods 17, 19can be welded or otherwise secured in position.

At 29 I have shown one of the side leg frames which is employed, itbeing understood that the other side of the chair will have a similarframe and these frames are detachably coupled by a crossrod 21?. Eachframe 29 comprises a front leg member 21 having a rounded lower foot 22,the other end of the leg 21 being curved upwardly, rearwardly anddownwardly, as seen at 23, to

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extend into the downwardly and backwardly inclined rear leg 24. The leg24 has, at its lower end, a foot 25, similar to thefoot 22. Welded orotherwise secured to the leg 24 is a U-shaped bracket 26.

In some methods of construction, the leg frame may be directly welded tothe seat frame or the side members 11 thereof. However, in theconstruction shown, I have indicated, at 27, fastener devices fordetachably coupling the legs 21, 24, as well as the bracket 26 with theframe 10. This detachable coupling is desirable from a standpoint ofmore compact packaging of the complete chair frame for shipment ortransportation thereof.

The top rail or rod 18 is preferably curved rearwardly to give contourto the rear portion of the backrest and the side members 12 include abent wire backrest portion 28 which is welded or otherwise secured tothe rod 19 and to a similar rod 29, arranged below the rod 19 and bothrods 19 and 29 are also curved to conform with the contour of the toprod 18. The backrest portion 28 is welded'or otherwise secured to therods 19 and 29, as well as to the side members 12.

At 30 is shown the removable upholstery which, in the construction shownin Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, comprises an elongated envelope or tubularcasing, defined by side facings 31, 31' of any suitable fabric, thesefacings being secured together to form, transversely of the elongatedupholstery, a hollow or tubular casing, having an end 32 with eyelets orother fasteners 33 in the facing 31 and 33' in the facing 31'. Thesefasteners 33, 33 facilitate attachment of one hook end 34 of coilsprings 35 therewith, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 3 of thedrawing, the other hook end 36 of the spring being adapted to engage oneof the apertures 16 in the seat plate 15. It will be understood that anumber of these spring couplings are provided across the lower frontportion of the chair seat and parts of these couplings arediagrammatically shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

By providing the multiplicity of apertures 16, various adjustments ofthe springs are made possible in order to keep the upholstery taut onthe chair. It will be appar eat that the crossrod 20, in addition tocoupling and bracing the leg frames, is so positioned at the upper endof the front leg members 21 as to render the springs 35 substantiallyinvisible, the end 32 of the removable upholstery being arranged abovethe rod 20'.

Now considering Fig. 4 of the drawing, it will appear that the other endof the upholstery casing is open,.as seen at 37, and the sides of thefacings 31, 31, adjacent the opening, are brought together and coupledwith the upper portion of the backrest, in the manner clearlyillustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

Pivotally mounted on the upper corner portions of the backrest inalinement with the top crossbar 18 is a yokeshaped lock member 38, thecrossrod 39 of which, in conjunction with the top crossrod 18, serves tolock the end 49 of the upholstery in position, the upholstery beingbrought downwardly beneath the rod 39, then through the opening formedabove the rod 19 and then downwardly around the rod 18 and bearing uponthe end portion 40, as indicated at 41, to secure the upholstery againstmovement at the upper end of the backrest. The upholstery is thenbrought downwardly around the crossrod 17, then downwardly around thefront crossrod 14 and the springs, which are coupled with the eyelets33, 33 are then coupled with the predetermined apertures 16.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 4, inclusive, foam rubber orother paddings are arranged in the upholstery and, as noted in Fig. 4 ofthe drawing, one long foam rubber strip 42 of predetermined thickness isemployed and two other pad portions 43 and 44, the latter preferablyhaving tapered ends, as at 43' and 44', one of the tapered ends onlybeing shown on each of the pads.

The pads 43, 44 provide greater bulk or thickness at the seat proper, aswell as the backrest portion proper of the upholstery; whereas, adjacentthe rod 17,:as"we1l. as the rods 14 and '18, the thickness of the strip42 of foam rubber. would be 'sufiicient. The pads 43, 44 can 'becemented or otherwise secured in position upon theistrip 42,'thusforming a complete cushionunit, Which,' in"its assembled form, isinsertable and removable from the envelope or casing 30 in the operationof cleaning or laundering the casing. A

At this time, it 'willbe pointed out that the-upholstery can be quicklyand easily reversed in the chair and, from this standpoint, theupholstery-30 may'h'ave facings 31, 31"of the same color and material;O-nthe other hand, these facings can be of difierent colors and ofdifferent materials, thus giving extensive use to the upholstery.

InFig. of the drawing, Ihave shown a modification inthe upholsterystructure and, in this figure, 45 represents an upholstery unit,generally similar to the unit shown in Fig. 4,' the unit 45 differingsimply in providing facings 4'6, 46. of rubber backed fabrics or-materials.

In other words, 47, 47 represent the fabric of the facings; whereas, 48,48 represent the rubber backings of these facings. In some instances,the complete upholstery may simply comprise the rubber backed facings,as sufficient rubber may be employed between the two facings to providethe required cushioning effect in the seat and backrestof the resultingchair. However, in Fig. 5 of the drawing, 1 have indicated at 49 one ofthe paddings which Wouldbesimilar to the pad 44-and two of such paddingscan be employed, these being cemented to one of the facings 47, 47'prior to assemblage of these facings. On the other hand, the paddingscould be removablydisposed between the facings and simply positioned inthe envelopes to as theiclosed end of the upholstery; whereas, the otherendof the upholstery will' be referred toas the open end, as seen forexample at 37 in Fig. 401' the drawing. With theconstruction'illustrated in Fig. 3a of the drawing, the end, 32' would,at all times, be partially closed by the fasteners 33" and, in somecases, it may be found that the end 32, 32 can be maintained closed ifthe paddings can be conveniently inserted into the upholstery throughthe open end. If" any difliculty "is experienced, oneor two of'thesprings 35 can be detached from the closed. end to provide a suflicientopening forthe insertion of the hand in straightening out or positioningthe padding.

Having fully described my invention, whatl claim as newand desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A chair structure of the character described, comprising a seat andbackrest frame having seat and backrest portions, leg frames at thesidesof the seat portion, said first frame having transverse rails atthe end extremities of the seat and backrest portions, a transverse rodat the intersection of the seat and backrest portions, a removableupholstery comprising an elongated tubular casing open at both ends,means for closing one end of and coupled with said closing means of thecasing for detachably coupling said'close'd' end of thecasing with beingadjustable and including yieldable coupling members.

2. A chair structure of'the character described, comprising a seat andbackrest frame having seat and backrest portions, leg frames at thesides of the seat portion, said first frame having transverse railsat'the end extremities of the seat and backrest portions, a transverserod at the intersection of the seat and backrestportions, a removableupholstery comprising anelongated flexible member, means on said' seatportion and coupled with one end of said member for detachably andadjustably coupling said end of said member with the seat portion of theseat frame, said member being adapted to be arranged beneath saidtransverse rod, means at the upper end of the backrest for coupling theother 'end'portion of said member with the upper rail of the backrest,and

said last named means being-adjustable.

3. A removable upholstery for furniture of the char acter described,comprising an elongated single tube casing having opposed longitudinallycontinuous facings,

means, at one end of the casing, for mounting the same' in connectionwith an article of furniture, theother end of the casing being open,rubber cushioning means disposed between'opposed facings of said casing,and said last named means comprising an elongated rubber strip extendingthe major portion of the length of the tube of said casing anddetachable with the casing. through the open end thereof.

4. A removable upholstery for furniture of the char- 7 acter described,comprising an elongated single tube ca's-- said casing, andothercushioning means arranged between the rubber strip and one of saidfacings.

5. A removable upholstery for furniture of the character described,comprising an elongated single tube casing having opposed longitudinallycontinuous facings,

. means, at one end of the casing, for mounting the same in connectionwith an article of furniture, the other end of the casing being open,rubber cushioning means dis- 5 References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,125,425 Willis Q Jan. 19, 1913 1,573,980Liptay Feb. 23, 1926 1,659,405 Love Feb. 14, 1928 2,281,341 Turner Apr.28, 1 942 2,667,916 Burd Feb. 2, 1954 2,728,382 Baranski Dec. 27, 1955 VFOREIGN PATENTS 953,739 France Oct. 4, 1947

